User blog:Estufe/Ash in my mouth: a eulogy
I started out at Magic: the Gathering buying Revised starter decks and The Dark boosters from the grouchy old man at the dingy local hobby store. I got about as deep into it as a financially dependent tween could do. I collected a binder full of the rares that appealed to me. I puzzled through one of the novels. Eventually, after lots of failed, juvenile attempts at brewing, I put together a mono-black aggro deck that wasn’t too bad. On release day for Ice Age, I bought a couple packs at the Northgate mall in San Rafael. I did not know it at the time, of course, but I would not buy another Magic product until Kaladesh. There was no single reason for the lapse. I didn’t stop loving the game. But I was a budding teenager, and I wanted to spend my money on other things. Magic wasn’t cool, and I wanted to be cool. Decades later, having long since given up that foolish aspiration, I was clearing out a desk drawer and found my dusty sleeved black deck. Dark Rituals. Royal Assassins. I wondered: is there an MtG app or something by now? I played Magic Duels for a year or so before touching paper Magic again. It helped me remind myself of the rules that haven't changed, and learn the rules that have. It implicitly showed me the ways Wizards’ fundamental approach to shepherding Magic—the game, the story, the community—has dramatically matured in two decades. It revealed to me that the mysterious, captivating, flawed phenomenon with which, as a precocious kid, I briefly fell in love, had become a sustained success, and one of the greatest games of all time. So now, after a 20-year hiatus, I’m well on my way toward getting all the way back into the paper cards. I bought an Amonkhet pack on Sunday, just because I happened to be walking by the game store and needed to scratch the itch. I’ve picked up a few match wins in limited play, at FNM and on MTGO, and I’m devouring old episodes of the Limited Resources podcast, trying to improve my game. I have a box of Kaladesh and a box of Aether Revolt sitting at home, with which I hope to host a draft or two with friends. I’m starting to noodle over what competitive Standard deck I might try to build in paper when the Ixalan rotation happens. I have the Hour of Devastation pre-release weekend blocked off on my calendar. It will be my first pre-release. But I still play Magic Duels every single day. Magic Duels has never been a particularly good app. It lacks the polish and intuitive interface of most major apps, and it is more buggy. But it allows me to play Magic whenever and wherever I want, on my train ride to work or on my couch. I love the story campaigns. I like the restrictions on rarity in deckbuilding. (I think they keep the meta more beginner-friendly than paper constructed, while simultaneously keeping it more diverse for experienced players.) And despite whatever complaints anyone may have about Duels, for pure convenience and accessibility, it is categorically the best way to play Magic. I do not believe Wizards would cease production of Duels without a mobile substitute in the works. I understand that strategic business decisions are difficult, and resources are finite. I write this merely as a brief eulogy, as a glass raised to the long-suffering Duels team, and finally, to release into the uncaring void a few entreaties: ♥ Uncaring void, please let the new mobile app be the first digital Magic implementation of excellent quality. Magic is a huge, worldwide game with devoted fans. They deserve it. ♥ Uncaring void, please let Wizards show the wisdom to allow Duels players to transfer their card collections to the new mobile implementation. I started playing just before Kaladesh. I did not have enough spare time to be a "free-to-play" player and enjoy the game the way I wanted to. I poured a lot of money into completing my collection, and I’m ok with that. But if I can’t transfer these cards to a supported medium, it will feel like a lot of money wasted, and my feelings for Magic in every format will be heavily soured. ♥ Uncaring void, please let Wizards learn from and never repeat their one egregious expectoration in the faces of their Duels customers. The announcement about (what I pray is) the new mobile app won’t come until September. That excludes mobile players from several months of new cards, probably at least two new expansions. I’ve been saving up Duels coins for months, eager to crack a full set of HOU packs the moment they were available. This morning before work I played an AI match with a personal ramp brew that features Champion of Rhonas and Eldrazi. I had as much goofy fun as I always do, literally unable to keep a smile from my face dropping a turn six Desolation Twin. This afternoon, just hours later, I open up the app and it’s like ash in my mouth. Category:Blog posts